The Ways of Water by Fiona Carstairs

It is a gentle meandering way

I start my journey

Through pastures of green and plenty

Where sheep and cattle sleep and graze

and in tranquility spend their days

My job, is one of utility

The giver of life the slaker of thirst

The bringer of fertility

Shed when my banks are burst

I cut, gouge or smooth my path

From source to estuary’s end

Over Earth’s obstacle course

To the sea I wind my way

With straight line and soft bend

I may suddenly be swallowed whole

Land that falls away, to the deep

Caverns below or soaked up through

Limestone that cleanses my body as I seep

 

I have no beginning and I have no end

For I am drawn up by the heat of the sun

As the cycle of life is contained

By the water vapour I have become

 

Through the skies I float as a cloud

And the wind pushes me over the deep

To be shed over higher cool climes

As rain, snow or watery sleet

 

Or I am turned to ice by a harsh North wind

And my self is now a shiny brittle self

I may sparkle in the noon day sun

As I cling on to branch, roof or window shelf

I can be the bringer of disaster

As a torrent of water I can destroy and drown

I can suffocate with a blanket of snow

So you will never be found

I am needed by man I am to be harnessed

I am energy that can be translated

I can be many things to many people

But please don’t take me for granted